BBC News reporter targeted with vile homophobic abuse
A BBC News and 5News reporter and presenter has been targeted with homophobic abuse online.
Ben Hunte, who presented the Gay Britannia season on the BBC, shared some of the abuse he has received on Twitter.
He wrote: “Back in London aaand back to receiving daily online abuse… Do you clap-back or just ignore it?!”
Attached to the tweet was a screenshot of some of the homophobic and racist abuse he has received on Instagram.
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One message reads: “Gay will never find true love, they dont do love, they are just horny”.
Another said: “Gays will never find true happiness his heart is empty and lonely”.
And a third read: “Ure black your face is so manly you still hv a huge change to go back to right path”.
Hunte later posted: “We need to end trolling. EVERY SINGLE THING I post online receives abuse from racists & homophobes. I can take it, but there are many vulnerable people who can’t. Disgusting.”
In a later tweet, Hunte wrote: “Some of my closest BME gay friends are no longer with us because of this kind of hate. It needs to be stopped, but for reasons you mentioned, I doubt it will! Hot mess ignorance.”
He also asked followers: “A guy just DMd me to say that being ‘straight passing’ has protected me from the worst of the online abuse… Thoughts?”
RELATED: Anti-LGBT trolls face backlash after targeting Pride campaign
Hunte presented and curated the Gay Britannia season on the BBC which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.
Gay Britannia on Radio 4 Extra
Check out a rundown of some of the best coverage of the 50th anniversary here.
PinkNews gave a special award for coverage of the 50th anniversary at the PinkNews Awards.
